Financial news

• EU countries already hitting some of their sustainable energy targets for 2030

  28-02-2024 20:00
  
  Study finds ‘systematic progress’ achieved in 2010s with some states reaching targets a decade earlySeveral European countries hit some of their sustainable energy targets for 2030 a decade early, a study has found, but big gaps remain across the board.All EU member states made progress in the 2010s toward reaching the UN’s seventh sustainable development goal, which calls for access to “affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all” by 2030. For some
  
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• Millennials on course to become ‘richest generation in history’

  28-02-2024 19:45
  
  Generational transfer of wealth largely built up in property will amount to $90tn in US alone, report saysMillennials may have been portrayed as frivolous spenders squandering their income on overpriced coffees and online barre classes in the face of pitiful long-term finances – but they are on course to become the “richest generation in history”, a study has shown.Those born between 1981 and 2000 are in line for a “seismic” windfall over the next 20 years, accordin
  
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• The Guardian view on local government finance: a crisis that corrodes democracy | Editorial

  28-02-2024 19:37
  
  Westminster cannot continue to ignore the scale of social devastation caused by the chronic underfunding of council servicesWhat most people experience of government most of the time is local – the condition of roads, bin collections and other services that make the difference between communities thriving or sinking. But the salience of local experience is not reflected in the power of local politicians. Britain has an ultra-centralised state. Councils are obliged by law to run balanced bu
  
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• Rediscovering the joys of life at 20mph | Letters

  28-02-2024 18:56
  
  Richard Paulssen and Peter Ellson respond to an article by Adrian Chiles on learning to love pootling along I am an inhabitant of maybe the most pedestrian-unfriendly city in the US, unless the film Death Race 2000 was set in Houston. I must agree with Adrian Chiles’s assessment of the new 20mph law (A 20mph speed limit seemed unfeasible – until I learned to love pootling along, 21 February). I regularly visit my mum in the Welsh village of Glanaman (a “blink and you’d mi
  
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• The top 10 reasons adults have considered starting their own business

  28-02-2024 17:07 via express.co.uk
  
  Greater financial independence tops the list of the top 10 reasons why Brits want to make their side hustles into full time ventures.
  
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• Six ‘straightforward’ ways to give yourself a tax cut - no matter what Budget has in store

  28-02-2024 16:10 via express.co.uk
  
  From using pensions and savings allowances to investment strategies, there are several "straightforward" ways to reduce the rising tax burden.
  
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• DWP benefits warning as these payments stop due to Universal Credit shake-up

  28-02-2024 15:15 via express.co.uk
  
  The DWP is currently working to move those claiming legacy benefits onto Universal Credit.
  
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• Tax hotline allows MPs and VIPs to skip the queues at HMRC

  28-02-2024 15:04
  
  Call-waiting times to ‘Public Department 1’ are 12 times faster while public must wait 22 minutes to speak to an adviser, report findsMPs, some civil servants and other high-profile figures are having their calls to HM Revenue and Customs answered up to 12 times faster than the general public because they are able to access a “VIP” hotline.As a report found that customer service levels at HMRC have sunk to an “all-time low”, with users regularly encountering l
  
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• Bitcoin price nears record high as cryptocurrency surges over $60,000

  28-02-2024 14:58 via express.co.uk
  
  This surge follows several days of significant price increases, marking a resurgence for the digital asset after a tumultuous period of decline.
  
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• Council tax alert as SNP demands co-operation to accelerate reforms

  28-02-2024 14:54 via express.co.uk
  
  The First Minister said he wants to see the reform 'at a quicker pace' than has been done before.
  
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• HMRC has a VIP phone line that answers calls in a few minutes - but only for this group

  28-02-2024 14:35 via express.co.uk
  
  Most Britons are left waiting more than 20 minutes to be answered on HMRC helplines while VIP callers wait just over two minutes.
  
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• Just Eat Takeaway.com shares fall despite 'strong momentum' in UK and Ireland

  28-02-2024 13:36 via express.co.uk
  
  Just Eat highlighted a positive performance in the UK and Ireland, where order levels improved throughout the year.
  
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• 'Enormous' wealth transfer set to transform millennials into richest generation in history

  28-02-2024 12:42 via express.co.uk
  
  A huge amount of wealth is set to be transferred to the "avocado generation", and will transform demand in the property market.
  
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• How much of your water bill is swallowed up by company debt? – interactive

  28-02-2024 12:25
  
  Analysis shows that 28% of Thames’ customer bills were spent servicing debt, as the company lobbies for moreReports that Thames Water has been lobbying the government to let it increase bills by 40% come after the company’s 30-year history of giving out £7.2bn in dividends – and racking up £14.7bn in debt – has put it on the brink of collapse.High levels of debt mean that much of customer bills are swallowed up by paying interest on company debt – with 2
  
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• Scotland's economy shrinks by twice as much as UK's but avoids recession

  28-02-2024 12:18 via express.co.uk
  
  GDP in Scotland fell by twice as much as it did in the UK in the final three months of last year, official figures show.
  
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• DWP 7-day warning as thousands could still claim £299 cost of living payment

  28-02-2024 11:49 via express.co.uk
  
  More than 880,000 people are thought to be missing out on the DWP benefit that can help qualify them for the Cost of Living Payment.
  
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• Thames Water lobbying government to let it increase bills by 40%

  28-02-2024 10:20
  
  UK’s largest water company also calls for dividend payouts and lower fines for breaches to avoid taxpayer bailoutThames Water has been lobbying the government and regulators to let it increase bills by 40%, pay lower fines for breaches and keep paying out dividends as part of efforts to avert a taxpayer bailout, according to a report.The UK’s largest water company was trying to strike a deal with the watchdog Ofwat that would give it permission to charge customers more to avoid havin
  
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• TfL’s Ulez auto pay has turned out to be an auto fine

  28-02-2024 08:00
  
  After signing up to the scheme £700 had been taken from my accountIn January, you recommended to a reader who had been chased for nonpayment of the London ultra-low emissions zone (Ulez) charge that they sign up for autopay – the system which automatically debits the charge from the user’s bank account.In September 2023, I received a fixed penalty charge as a result of driving in the, then unknown to me, Ulez area. At the time I was advised by Transport for London (TfL) to set
  
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• Virgin Media O2 clients hit with 8.8% price rises or crippling exit fees

  28-02-2024 01:01
  
  Increase is biggest hike in percentage terms of any major broadband or mobile firm this yearVirgin Media O2 customers are facing a “lose-lose choice” between the highest mid-contract broadband and mobile price rises, or crippling exit fees running into hundreds of pounds, the consumer group Which? has warned.Virgin Media and O2, which merged in 2021, are scheduled to go ahead with price rises of up to 8.8% this April – the latest retail prices index figure of 4.9%, plus an extr
  
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